Nadal knocked out of Sony Ericsson Open

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has knocked out the top-ranked Rafael Nadal from the Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinals in Miami. 

The 20-year-old Argentine ousted Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) in front of a raucous, pro-del Potro crowd on Thursday. 

"Wonderful for the crowd," Nadal said. "Terrible for me." 

"I played really bad all the time," he added. "When I have it 3-love in the third, I played worse. It was amazing disaster." 

Meanwhile, the Spanish tennis star admitted that he failed to show a good performance during the whole tournament. 

"I didn't play well during this tournament," Nadal explained. "I didn't adapt well. I played really bad." 

The 6-foot-6 Juan Martin del Potro, however, said that the home-court advantage helped him win the 22-year-old Nadal. "They helped me a lot," the No. 6-seeded del Potro said. 

"I beat him with my mind and with my game," del Potro said. "When we played long points, I was dominating every time." 

"I beat the No. 1," he went on to say. "If you don't play unbelievable, you cannot beat him." 

Del Potro is to meet No. 4 Andy Murray of Britain in the semifinals. Murray defeated eighth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2. 

The Swiss ace Roger Federer will also take on Serb Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal game on the same day.